Photography by Kenny

Project: SR-71 (Make a Datsun 240Z drift like a Nissan 240SX)

SR-71

The goal of this build is to drift a Datsun 240Z.
I've owned a Nissan S13 Silvia in Japan, as well as a Nissan S13 240SX here in the states. Being that I'm accustomed to the S13 chassis, feel, and suspension setup, I felt it only proper to incorporate as much of that as possible into the Datsun 240Z. I started this project in 2011, and after years of work (in my spare time), I feel that I have accomplished that portion of the goal. While the build still has a long way to go before it's road worthy, I feel that the work I have put into it thus far was the most difficult challenge. Prior to this build, I had zero welding, and zero fabrication experience...I just taught myself as I went along.

There is a story behind my current unique build...

I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan with the Air Force from 2004-2007, and it was there that I became addicted to drifting. I owned a 1990 Nissan Silvia and went to the track every chance I could.
If you have an hour to kill, and you want to watch a compilation video I made from my time in Okinawa, you can check it out here: (My silvia was the red/orange with blue front end)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPR8stlPWsQ
When I got out of the Air Force, they wouldn't let me take the car with me. Because of this, I decided to completely strip the entire car down to the shell and pack everything into footlockers to have them ship the parts back to the states. When I finally got back to the states and settled in, I bought a 1990 Nissan 240SX. Once our household goods shipment came in (which included all my car parts), I went to work building my car. This time is was to be far better than it was in Japan, and it was. I was a few weeks away from putting a roll cage in the car...then on May 30th 2008 I was driving it to work and got hit by a truck. I spent almost 3 months in the hospital, and I sustained multiple injuries:

After a few days, I developed ARDS, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which is where the lungs completely fill with fluid and turn to mush. I had to be placed in an induced coma and paralyzed state until hopefully my lungs would heal. I stayed this way for about two months or so, and then one day my lungs just started healing. A few days later they slowly started taking me off of all the drugs they had me on and I eventually woke up. It was a long and difficult road to overcome all of the physical therapy, but I did and I feel that I'm better than I was before the wreck.

Luckily my wife wouldn't let them junk my car; she had the car taken to her Dads house. The car sat for about three years until I finally decided to do something with it. I wanted to drift again; however, I wanted the car to be different and extremely unique, so of course that presented a challenge. I thought about it for quite sometime and decided to look for a Datsun 240Z because I've always loved those cars. After a few months, I located one locally that had minimal rust. I bought it for $900 and brought it home. As for my wrecked car, well, the truck essentially hit me in the driver door, which ended up saving the engine, transmission, suspension, rear end, etc. My research, at the time, indicated that the Datsun 240Z's were really poor at drifting due to their short wheelbase (90.7” wheelbase) and lack of heavy aftermarket support for it (as compared to an s13). I knew that my Nissan 240SX would handle and drift excessively well...so I thought, how can I merge the two? I had no idea what I was about to get into! None of the suspension components from my Nissan would bolt into the Datsun. I couldn't find a single write up on the Internet where someone had successfully accomplished what I wanted to do--that was both stressful and exciting at the same time. I had never welded nor fabricated anything before; I didn't even own a welder. I eventually bought a welder (a cheap Harbor Freight Flux Core) and taught myself how to weld. After about two years, I sold that welder and purchased a used Lincoln Mig Weldpack 100, and after a few years, I'm still learning. A few months ago, Sept 2014, I bought myself an Eastwood Tig welder. This will be an invaluable tool to further my build, as well as potentially making some extra cash doing side jobs. As far as what has been done to the Datsun, here is a very short list of the major modifications:

This is an excerpt from a post I made on my build page concerning the build itself:
"Here is the deal with this build...
Virtually the entire build so far has been done with scrap metal, hardware that friends have given me, parts from my s13 that I almost died in, a cheap harbor freight flux core welder (until recently that is), and anything else that I could use, get, or otherwise obtain for cheap, trade, or barter. I have bought very few things to make this work; it's really just an extreme budget, 1 car garage, junk yard parts, limited tools, mad max, rat rod, insane, unique, self-built, no-fucks-given, Datsun 240Z drift build. Hell, prior to this I had zero fabrication nor welding experience. I'm glad people like this build, and I'm glad people hate it--there will always be haters. The car may look, on the surface, rough in its current state; however, in the end, I guarantee that it will be awesome and extremely unique. This is far from a show car, but rather a track car (with a story) that will get beat on. No one will ever like 100% of anything on any car; it's just the nature of being human."

Hopefully I haven't bombarded you with too much information off the start, but I’m looking for some type of sponsorship, due to my car fund scarcity, in order to complete this unique build. There are numerous parts that I will be needing in order to get the car running, driving, and safe; however, without the funds needed to purchase these parts, the car will end up just sitting for no telling how long. The project does have a ways to go before it's complete, but I just take my time and accomplish what I can, when I can. While it's slow going, it will get finished.